1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication portable terminal, more particularly to a method for carrying out image communication using an image communication portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image communication portable terminals refer to portable terminals which provide an image communication service using a photographing function as well as a voice communication service which is provided by common portable communication terminals.
Generally, the image communication portable terminal includes a camera for capturing a subject's picture, the camera being fixed to the body of the portable terminal, a video processor for receiving image information from the camera and to convert and compress the image into digital signals when the camera photographs the subject, and a Radio Frequency (RF) unit for wirelessly transmitting the converted and compressed signals.
In the conventional image communication portable terminal, a user inputs the recipient's phone number using the keypad of the portable terminal and then pushes a send key (or transmission key) intending to access a recipient portable terminal in order to communicate with him/her. When the users' portable terminal connects to the recipient portable terminal, the users' portable terminal obtains information on the users' image and voice through a camera and a microphone and transmits the obtained image and voice information, so that the transmitter's image information is displayed on the screen of the recipient portable terminal.
Conversely, image information transmitted from the recipient portable terminal is displayed on the screen of the transmitter portable terminal. Thus, the user can carry out image communication with his/her partner while viewing the recipient's image information and listening to the recipient's voice.
The conventional image communication portable terminal as described above transmits only video data input from the camera and audio data input from the microphone to the recipient portable terminal during the image communication. Further, the conventional image communication portable terminal continuously transmits only predetermined video data or audio data.
Recently, with development in image communication technologies and an increasing number of users, the trend has been to carry out more dynamic and expressive image communication. However, in the conventional image communication method, the image communication portable terminal merely transmits the input video/audio data, or the predetermined video/audio data. Therefore, there is a problem in that the conventional image communication method cannot satisfy users' demands.